Using ChatGPT? It might make you STUPID: Brain scans reveal how ...
It's a tool that millions of students around the world use on a daily basis. But if you regularly turn to ChatGPT, a new study may raise alarm bells. Scientists from MIT Media Lab have warned that using AI could impact your ability to learn, think, and remember.
The Study
In their study, the team measured electrical activity in the brain to track 54 students over several essay-writing sessions. One group used ChatGPT, another used Google, and the last had no external help at all. The results revealed that students who used large language models (LLM) like ChatGPT to write essays showed poorer memory, reduced brain activity, and weaker engagement than those who used other methods.
Cognitive Cost of LLMs
The team set out to understand the 'cognitive cost' of LLMs like ChatGPT. With the wide adoption of LLM products like ChatGPT from OpenAI, humans and businesses engage and use LLMs on a daily basis. Like any other tool, it carries its own set of advantages and limitations. This study focuses on finding out the cognitive cost of using an LLM in the educational context of writing an essay.
Results and Findings
Participants were assigned to three groups - ChatGPT, Google, and Brain-only - and asked to write an essay while wearing an electroencephalography (EEG) device to record their brain activity. The results revealed that using AI had a measurable impact, with those participants showing a likely decrease in learning skills. Even though the benefits were initially apparent, the ChatGPT group performed worse than their counterparts in the brain-only group at all levels: neural, linguistic, scoring across a four-month period.
Impact on Learning Skills
If these students then tried to use ChatGPT, their brain activity would still increase. Researchers presumed this was because the students would be trying to combine the new tool with what they already know. Whereas the ChatGPT group was still demonstrating less activity, even when they were tasked with writing the essay themselves.
Conclusion
This study sheds light on the potential negative impact of using large language models like ChatGPT on learning skills and cognitive abilities. While AI tools like ChatGPT offer convenience, they may come at a cost in terms of critical thinking and engagement.
